For instance, at the moment, social media (SM) is all the rage. I've dabbled with a few SM platforms but my current infatuation is with Twitter [Read this great introduction to social media by someone I follow on Twitter myself, @khayadlanga]. I was really big on Facebook too until fairly recently. With an embarassingly inordinate amount of time on my hands - owing to my flexible working conditions - I sort of got kinda, slightly hooked on Facebook. Now I hardly go on (when compared to my daily Twitter-time). I need to be on Twitter now. I never want to skip a beat and when I do have to bear down and slog away for the man, I am forced to shut my browser down just so I can focus. So, it follows that I'd have a lot to say on the subject.
By this, I mean, you have to be willing to interact with total strangers from all corners of the world, to be ready to have them read all of your less-than-informed and ill-thought-out opinions, and your embarrassing moments of overshare. You must be okay with the idea that someone might start a mischievous lie that you could end up sms'ing to your nearest and dearest or (even worse) posting on your Facebook page!
It's exhilarating - like the proverbial bad boy that all we good girls just love (you know you do)! As an intelligent woman, you know that this has the potential to get you into trouble, but it is the danger and sense of exposure that keeps you coming back for more. It's the fast, devil-may-care freedom of it all that sets you alight. Erm, and before this turns into a whole OTHER kind of blog, we'll leave the metaphor there. Thank you.
The point is, this space moves at blistering speeds and, more often than not, there is no time to think through - let alone edit - your tweets. You have information coming at you a mile a minute (well, depending on your 'stats': how many 'tweeps'/'tweople' you follow and who follows you), and the deeper you dive in, the deeper it all pulls you in. Almost like a powerful Atlantic Ocean current - complete with under-tow and stormy seas.
Apt then, that my landmark 50th tweet was a tentative cry for attention (thinly veiled as a plea for help). Attention being the operative word here. Because, of course, that's what Twitter's all about: attention. The people who enjoy Twitter the most are those who receive attention - of any kind. The rest of us splash around in varying proximities from our individual strips of shoreline trying to let the people we 'follow' know that they've got our attention, all the while, trying to create something for our 'followers' to hopefully pay attention to.
Twitter fascinates me. Being a big old softie and a complete sucker for pop-pshychology, I see the metaphor in every moment of my Twitter-time. It's a microcosm of our global society itself and - more importantly - in my opinion, it's advent and growth are significant milestones on the journey that we are travelling as a global society.
I shan't pontificate too much on that point. There's plenty of time, ne pas? Suffice it to say, this isn't the last you'll hear from me on the subject of Twitter. In fact Twitter itself was, in a way, the inspiration for this particular blog. As I was growing as a tweeter, I was growing as a web-user in general. It's basically opened up a new world for me. I am taking in more information than I ever have before and it is all perfectly instantaneous. I'm discovering new places on the net and new uses for it, new thoughts and interactions with it. Twitter has indeed taken my breath away.
Facebook, of course, remains my first social media love. I still appreciate it and it has an (as yet) irreplaceable spot in my heart. It's just that... well, Twitter is simply the new hotness. I cannot get enough. It's just too early to tell yet whether it's true love or simply infatwuation.
No comments:
Post a Comment